Württemberg Naturalization and Citizenship: Difference between revisions

The older forms of city directories are Bürgerrollen and Bürgerbücher. In them are listed citizens with rights to citizenship (Bürgerrecht) in a given locality. There was a difference between a Bürger and a Einwohner. Citizens without Bürgerrecht were called Beiwohner or Beisassen. A fully recognized citizen of a town had to have property. He also had to pay certain fees to become a citizen in the first place. With privileges came obligations i.e., defending the city. Bürgerbücher and Bürgerrollen can be found through [https://www.archive-bw.de/sixcms/list.php?page=seite_liste_archivnamen&sv%5Brel19%5D=10089&_sparte=Archives+of+Towns+and+Communities&_info=ja '''local archives, the Stadt- and Gemeindearchive.''']

Lists of citizens are kept by most of the Oberamt [district] offices in Württemberg.  They contain much useful information, including where a person was born.  This is most helpful when a person has moved into the village from an unknown location. Because of differences in the local records, information may not be the same in each locality. Most of these books are alphabetical, although some may have indexes.